CANBERRA: Australian Border Force (ABF) staff are regularly subjected to harassment and bullying at work, an internal review has found.

The 2017 review of ABF culture, published by the Guardian Australia on Friday, uncovered “alarming levels of sexual harassment and bullying” within the organization.

It revealed that the ABF was fostering a culture of nepotism and favouritism since it was established as an amalgamation of customs and immigration in 2015.

Roman Quaedvlieg, who was Australia’s highest-paid public servant, was dismissed as commissioner of the ABF in March 2018 after a nine-month investigation found that he abused his power to obtain employment for a person he was in a relationship with.